TOTBO Tip of the Day 23 Webdesigners

If you are not a technically-oriented person, you need an IT person to set up your website. Chances are, they will know a lot more about search engine optimization (SEO) than you do. Ask them to set up a site that you can regularly modify on your own, so that you are not spending thousands of dollars over the course of your film’s life. If you can get a qualified person to do it for free, great — but you should be able to find someone to set up a simple site for $500 to $2,000. Maintain your relationship with this person so you can ask them to come back from to time to time to tweak your site (like when you want to sell DVDs, merchandise, etc.).

Let me know what you think! Follow me @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book and workshops here. I look forward to hearing from you.

TOTBO Tip of the Day 22 Create a Grid of Rights

It is important that you or someone on your team keep track of who has the rights to what. Most lawyers will never have the time to do this for you. You should create a grid and track it, because it can get confusing. Orly Ravid of The Film Collaborative who handles the legal on my deals has created such a grid for the rights on Bomb it. She will be posting it on their site soon – so stay tuned.

Let me know what you think! Follow me @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book and workshops here. I look forward to hearing from you.

TOTBO Tip of the Day 21 Lawyers

A good lawyer who is familiar with split rights scenarios and the vagaries of new distribution models is essential, although hard to find. If you cannot find one, I suggest using a consultant in tandem with a lawyer. The consultant negotiates, the lawyer goes over the language. Find someone who is open to working in new ways. Lawyers will either work on a per-hour fee ($175 and up) or for a percentage of the deal(s) (5 to 7 percent). Since the field is changing so rapidly, you may have to train your lawyer regarding certain items that you will demand. One new alternative is The Film Collaborative – a non profit entity that can go over your agreements for a very reasonable fee and are very knowledgable.

Let me know what you think! Follow me @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book and workshops here. I look forward to hearing from you.

TOTBO Tip of the Day 20 Television Sales Reps

Television is a market that is hard to monetize if you DIY. You should get yourself a TV sales agent if you can. These agents/reps deal with television buyers all the time; they also go to specific television sales markets throughout the world.

Like foreign sales reps, foreign television sales reps typically take 25 percent of the sale as a fee, less expenses. Make sure you limit the foreign or TV rep’s expenses in your agreement. At most, you should be paying a percentage of their market expenses (split with the other films they represent on a proportional basis). At best, you should not be required to reimburse them for market expenses, since they attend these markets with a large slate of films.

Join me in Cannes on May 15th at the Producer’s Network Breakfast at 9am and on May 16th where Liz Rosenthal and I will be doing a presentation at the Short Film Corner from 4pm to 5pm. Check out my blog, for more information. Follow me @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book and workshops here. I look forward to hearing from you.

TOTBO Tip of the Day 19 Foreign Sales Reps

These are reps/agents that are relatively established in the split rights world and specialize in the sales of foreign rights. Generally they take a higher percentage (25 percent) than producer’s reps for domestic deals and many of them charge expenses as well. However, it is much harder to get a foreign sales advance because overall deals in foreign territories are diminishing, just like overall deals in the United States. The reasons for this decline in overall deals are the same as well. Television sales however remain the strongest of the traditional rights sales in foreign territories. Tomorrow we will address television sales reps.

Join me in Cannes on May 15th at the Producer’s Network Breakfast at 9am and on May 16th where Liz Rosenthal and I will be doing a presentation at the Short Film Corner from 4pm to 5pm. Check out my blog, for more information. Follow me @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book and workshops here. I look forward to hearing from you.

TOTBO Tip of the Day 18 Don’t Despair

Since sales reps generally work on commission, they will be choosier about the films that they select. Hence more and more films will end up not being represented by a sales rep or will not have a sales rep for each right. So don’t despair if you don’t have one. If a sales rep is helping you obtain and negotiate split rights deals, they are helpful, but you can function without them. If a sales rep requests a large up front fee to represent your film, I strongly recommend doing your research before paying large up front fees to a representative. You must talk to filmmakers the rep has worked with to make sure that it was worth it.

Join me in Cannes on May 15th at the Producer’s Network Breakfast at 9am and on May 16th where Liz Rosenthal and I will be doing a presentation at the Short Film Corner from 4pm to 5pm. Check out my blog, for more information. Follow me @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book and workshops here. I look forward to hearing from you.

10 Solutions to Ted Hopes 38 More Ways The Film Industry Is Failing Today

On Truly Free Film today Ted Hope writes about 38 More Ways The Film Industry Is Failing Today.

My response is to propose 10 Solutions that Filmmakers Can engage in to work against these failings:

1. Consider marketing and distribution of your films as part of the entire filmmaking process. If you do this it will be easier and more organic.

2. Hire a distribution and marketing crew – just as you would a production crew. Hire a Producer of Marketing and Distribution or PMD to run this crew. As a producer/line producer run production crew.

3. If you are interested in film, business, marketing, social media – train to become a PMD so that you can be hired by filmmakers. This is a growth field – if you want a new career.

4. Budget for and raise money for distribution and marketing at the initial raise. That way you can promise your investors a release of the film. This way there will be some assured path to monetization and all share the risk in the costs of that monetization.

5. Put the money for marketing and distribution in escrow – you know what I mean.

6. Consider the audience for your film, the specific audinece(s) that exist for your film. Reach out to them as early as possible. They will help you.

7. Think of how and what that audience consumes. Make products that they want related to your film. Eg Shepard Fairey designed posters printed on linen paper signed by the director of the film Bomb It – 🙂

8. Think of interesting Live Events that you can create that appeal to your audience and are relevent to your film. Steinway brought pianos and pianists to the screenings of Ben Nile’s “Note by Note”

9. Think of interesting ways to reach out to audiences that might engage with the content of your film, but don’t want to watch a feature film (yes transmedia). Check out “The Way We Get By” and their Returning Home community site. Check out Bomb It’s Babelgum webisode site.

10. Remember that you are creating a film or media project for an audience. Creation is one part of the whole, connecting with the audience is the other part to that whole.

Jon

TOTBO Tip of the Day 17 Before Bringing on Principal Crew

If you have one or more sales representatives interested in your film, certainly talk to them. But have your distribution and marketing strategy ready before even talking to sales reps, then present it to them to determine to see whether or not they feel that they can help implement that strategy. This is so that you can put their recommendations into context for your film. Remember, your strategy will evolve, so at least have the first draft before you take these meetings. In general you should go to any meeting with the following:

1. Knowing what you want from the meeting or person.
2. Having researched the person you are meeting with so that you know what they want, or can provide for you.

Leaving for the Amsterdam tomorrow. Then to Cannes. Check out the TOTBO site for more information. Comment here or @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. I look forward to hearing from you.

TOTBO Tip of the Day 16 Producer’s Reps Pt 1

In honor of the upcoming Cannes Film Festival – I will take this opportunity to explore other crew people that you might want to engage on your film and whether or not they are right for your project. There are several types of sales representatives/sales agents. Today the topic is Producer’s Representatives. A classic sales representative or producer’s representative, as has been known to the independent film world for the past 20-30 years, is someone who will broker your film to the various distribution entities, generally in search of an overall deal. The main advantage of sales reps is their relationships with the various companies that buy films, from full-service distributors to DVD companies to cable companies, etc. In the old model, it was almost taken for granted that an unsold independent film would engage a sales rep. Not anymore. Whether or not to engage a sales rep is one of the first decisions you need to make in the execution of your overall distribution strategy.

The London TOTBO Workshop went amazingly well. Onto Amsterdam this week. Then to Cannes. Check out the TOTBO site for more information. Comment here or @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. I look forward to hearing from you.

TOTBO Tip of the Day 15 Hiring PMDs in these early days.

I look forward to a near future in which filmmakers/directors will be able to put out calls for PMDs just as they do for DPs and Editors – and that they will get an equal volume of applications. Directors will develop long term relationships with PMDs that “get them” just as they do with DPs, Editors, and Producers etc.

The most natural PMDs initially will be from the ranks of unit publicists and social media strategists. They already have many of the skill sets needed to do this work. If you can’t hire one full time, you should at least have them consulting and advising on the project.

But there is a lot of work to be done and even if you have a PMD they will need help. Don’t just bemoan the fact that you are in distribution and all your producers have had to go onto other work (if that is the case). Go out and get some more producers involved in the project. Again if you have limited means get a social media strategist and perhaps a distribution consultant to advise you and your new distribution and marketing team on how do this right. If you have limited means, you can offer some kind of producer credit in exchange for money – just as you did on the rest of your film. (I know in the future you will properly budget for this work).

Two of the Co-Producers on Bomb It started working on the film six months after we premiered the film at Tribeca. I couldn’t get them on the credits of the film – but they are on the credits of the PAL DVD, and I will back up their credit on IMDB and in references any day – and that is ultimately what matters – a verifiable credit to someone coming up.

My workshops start this week in London and next week in Amsterdam. Check out the TOTBO site for more information. Sign up for London HERE. Comment here or on my blog, or @Jon_Reiss on twitter, or on the TOTBO Facebook page. Check out the book here. I look forward to hearing from you.